THE CITY REBORN FROM THE ASHES OF AMERICA'S MOST DISASTROUS FOREST FIRE

Area Teams Eliminated From Post Season Tourney

Issue Date: October 25, 2017

Spartan Firepower Too Much for Bulldogs

Thursday evening the Peshtigo Bulldogs traveled to Luxemburg-Casco to take on the number two-seeded Spartans in the WIAA Division 2 playoffs. Peshtigo started off games one and two with an early lead, but the Spartans had a front line with an average height of 5'11" that would not be stopped. Luxemburg-Casco featured three Division 1 college recruits and went on to sweep Peshtigo 25-14, 25-16 and 25-13.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in game one, but a 9-1 Spartan run set up by the serving of Alexis Dorner and powerful hits of Cassie Schiltz gave Lux-Casco a 10-6 lead. Peshtigo hung tough as Shae Tonn smashed a hit off the blockers and Emma Frederickson recorded a kill, but the Spartans seemed to have an answer for every Bulldog point. Tonn hustled after a ball and bumped it over her head running away from the net and the ball found its way to the floor to bring Peshtigo within 18-10. Danielle Lemke's tough serving gave Peshtigo a bit of momentum, closing the margin to 19-13, but Lux-Casco finished the game on a 6-1 run and took game one, 25-14.

Once again, Peshtigo mounted a 4-1 lead thanks to two hitting errors on the Spartans and precise serving from Grace Wickman. Powerful shots from Dorner and Schiltz brought Lux-Casco right back into the lead at 6-5. The teams exchanged points as Dorner's ace was followed by a Frederickson kill, a Schiltz kill and another Frederickson kill. Wickman's block tied the score at 10-10 and Frederickson served up an ace for an 11-10 Peshtigo lead. Lux-Casco then smashed three straight kills right to the floor on Peshtigo's side, forcing a Bulldog timeout. Out of the timeout, a hitting error and a Madi Martin block narrowed the lead to 14-13. Great hustle from the Spartans, including Megan Cannon saving a ball over her own bench, helped set up a block kill for Lux-Casco. From there, the Spartans went on a 10-3 run to close out game two, 25-16.

In the final set of the night, the momentum was just too much to overcome for Peshtigo. Down 11-7, Lux-Casco scored four straight points, but the Bulldogs didn't give up. Martin smacked a shot off the middle blockers and Tonn did the same from the outside, closing the gap to 15-9. The Spartans answered with three straight points, ended by a tough Tonn tip kill to the middle of the Spartan defense. Lux-Casco ended the game in similar fashion to the first two, with a 7-2 run and a 25-13 victory.

"I'm just proud of my girls because we went into the game with the mindset that we have nothing to lose, play hard. I think we earned points, at times we did a really good job of earning our own points. They didn't get down on themselves at all. They were open-minded, they knew they had to do what they had to do when it was our turn. They just kept a good, positive attitude throughout the whole match," said Peshtigo coach Robin Gilligan.

Shae Tonn ended a solid Peshtigo career leading the Bulldogs in kills with 11, while recording eight digs. Fellow seniors Emma Frederickson had three kills, three digs and an ace, Madi Martin had four digs, two kills and a block, Danielle Lemke registered 18 assists and six digs, and Maya Ploszynski recorded two digs.

"I am going to miss all of them equally, because they all contributed in some way." Coach Gilligan added of her seniors, "Danielle did an outstanding job setting this year, she worked hard this summer and had a lot of pressure on her hands, and she did a good job at that. Shae, what can I say, Shae is awesome. We're really going to have a tough time replacing her, she's a very smart player and I enjoyed having her for four years. Madi and Emma, I had them for three years, I'm going to miss having my middles because they've improved so much with their ability to mix it up. Of course, Maya is my awesome server and back-row player, I'm going to have a tough time replacing her defensively. Just an all-around great group.

Florence Defeats Wausaukee in Regional Final

The Wausaukee Ranger volleyball team found themselves on the wrong end of a four set match against the hosting Florence Bobcats Saturday night, 26-24, 18-25, 16-25 and 23-25.

For the Rangers Courtney Messar posted four aces, 15 kills and 18 digs while Kylee Smith had two aces, 10 kills and six digs. Bella Manske posted nine kills. Callie Orlando gave her team 25 assists and 11 digs.

Crivitz Defeats Amherst to Advance

The Crivitz Wolverines traveled to Amherst Thursday evening for WIAA Regional volleyball and came away with a five set win 20-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-17 and 15-7.

Crivitz was elminated from the post season tournament, falling to Oconto Saturday, 22-25, 25-21, 25-18 and 25-8. No stats were submitted.

Wausaukee Defeats Elcho

The Wausaukee Rangers took a WIAA Regional playoff victory over the Elcho Hornets Thursday night winning the match up 16-25, 24-26, 25-11, 25-22 and 15-10.

Over the course of competition Courtney Messar amassed 20 kills, 28 digs and two aces while Kaelyn Schlies posted nine kills and three digs. Kylee Smith recorded eight kills, four digs and one ace while Bella Manske had seven kills.

Niagara Eliminated from Playoffs by Gresham

In WIAA's division 4 second round of playoffs, the Niagara Badgers traveled to take on the Gresham Wildcats for a chance to advance to the regional final. Niagara hung tough with Gresham, but fell in three straight sets, 25-20, 25-18 and 25-18.

Jasmine Racine and Allison Wells each recorded five kills to lead the Badgers, while Cassie Gill added two. Maddie West led the team in blocks with three and Annalise Colenso paced the defense with 12 digs. Abigail McCarthy finished the contest with nine assists.